Welcome back to St Peter’s College for Term 3 and a special and warm welcome to all our new families that have recently joined the School. It is our hope that your sons will thrive here as we strive to be an exceptional community of learning. We hope their participation and pursuit of learning will enrich their experiences as well as those around them.
Well done to all students who represented St Peter’s College on tours over the July break. I was pleased to hear positive reports from the cricket tour to the UK, the music tour of Europe and the tech tour to the United States. It was also very pleasing to see students at School on a daily basis to advance their studies through practice examinations and regular physical development.
The Junior School art exhibition this week was simply superb. Seeing the work of our students from ELC to Year 6 laid out in progression was very impressive. The fact that all the works were individually inspired, not copied, showed the success of the artist-in-residence program under the supervision of Mrs Sally Houston. Well done to all boys.
Many of you will have read in the local media about the ongoing dialogue between university vice chancellors regarding use of the ATAR for entry into degrees. St Peter’s College continues to support all efforts made to draw the focus of university preparation toward depth of, or passion for, study. Last year, St Peter’s College pioneered a trial entry program into engineering, computer science and mathematics with the University of Adelaide that provided early offers to students via non-ATAR entry. If expanded to wider courses across the state, this program would encourage students to pursue prerequisite courses and their passions of study at depth. This would go a long way to ensuring students arrive at university in their first year well oriented and adjusted to their tertiary studies. St Peter’s College continues to work toward changes that will benefit all students in the long term.
Earlier this week I meet with all Year 11 students and then presented the ‘Thriving in Year 12’ seminar to their parents. It was great that so many boarding parents could join us for the webcast. The purpose of each presentation was to lay out the journey of Year 12 from a cultural and support perspective. Regardless of the strategy we employ to ensure that students at St Peter’s College achieve their best in Year 12, it is vital that the right culture is established. Culture trumps strategy every day of the week. ‘Team Saints’ is about every student in the cohort seeking the best not only for himself, but also for his peers. Working collaboratively together on campus is essential in order to achieve this positive culture. I hope you enjoyed the session and the second event has been planned for 22 October.
I am delighted to congratulate a number of students including Zac Connell (Year 11), Adam Goddard (Year 10), Archie Goodson (Year 8), Thomas Grosser (Year 7) and Jonathan Harris (Year 8) who have been selected for the cross country state team. They will race in the championships in NSW in late August. Chathula Kiripitige (Year 10) won the first place at the 2019 “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Secondary School Students in SA. He will represent the state at the preliminary final in Melbourne in August. In swimming a number of boys competed in the state championships including David Rus (Year 10), Matthew Pearce (Year 10) who won his age group, and Will Gaertner (Year 11) who won gold for his breaststroke event. Congratulations to Alexander Shierlaw (Year 12) who is representing Australia at the 2019 International Geography Olympiad – please read the newsletter article for all the details. Finally, well done to Cameron Huefner (Year 12) who has accepted a scholarship to Pittsburg State University for next year.
Tim Browning
Headmaster